1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information providing systems, information providing apparatuses, information providing methods, portable terminals, information outputting methods, and computer programs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In portable terminals such as cellular phones and portable mobile computers, it is possible to connect to the Internet, display Web pages, and so forth. Users can obtain desired information using such portable terminals.
When a user connects to the Internet to obtain desired information using such a portable terminal, the user specifies a URL. However, it is cumbersome to enter a long URL on a portable terminal, which is usually provided with only an input device with small buttons or the like. Thus, information providers provide systems that allow users to obtain information by simple operations using portable terminals so that the users will obtain information they provide. For example, a system in which users enter codes instead of URLs, or a system in which information desired by users can be provided by reading two-dimensional bar codes by cameras provided on portable terminals, have been provided.
For example, according to an information processing system described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-259248, a user first enters a predetermined access code to a cellular phone so that a code input screen is displayed. Then, a code for identifying a product, which can be found on an advertisement medium such as a Web page or a poster, is input in the code input screen, thereby obtaining information of the product associated in advance with the code from the server.